


Unexpected Changes

by sixbeforelunch



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-02
Updated: 2006-06-02
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixbeforelunch/pseuds/sixbeforelunch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tuvok expected changes. Just not this change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Changes

**Author's Note:**

> Read [this](http://medie.livejournal.com/1223803.html#cutid21) first.

The return of the starship Voyager came at a time when the Federation as a whole and Starfleet in particular was still licking the wounds of a brutal and costly war. The moral-boost of the triumphant return of a ship which had spent the war years exploring rather than fighting was such that Command was willing to look over things which may have, in other circumstances, merited further inquiry. Questionable decisions and indiscretions that may or may not have taken place during Voyager's unplanned seven-year mission were glossed over, pardons were quickly handed down, and the ship was paraded in front of the media as the pinnacle of commitment to the principles and mission of Starfleet.

Nevertheless, Starfleet could not afford to be lax in their security measures, and the crew spent over a week in debriefings and medical screenings before being allowed to see anyone but authorized Starfleet personnel. Thus, it was nine point four days after the return of Voyager that Tuvok was finally able to prepare to see his wife. It was not a transport to Vulcan that he boarded, however. Instead, a message directed him to Sudan, to the Terran home of Vulcan's most well-known family.

Even on Earth, most Vulcans preferred Vulcan-style houses, with expansive courtyards and multiple rooms separating the more public areas from the private rooms of the family. The distinction between public outer rooms where visitors were entertained and the private inner sitting rooms where only family and close friends were allowed was not something taken lightly and Tuvok had to use most of his control to keep his face neutral as he was led by an aide past the large, sparsely decorated rooms at the front of the house to a room clearly in the more private area of the home.

He found his wife there. While he had used his meditations of the previous night to steel himself against the emotions of seeing her again, he had not been prepared to find her in what appeared to be a familiar conversation with Admiral Saavik--or, rather, the Lady Saavik, for dressed in civilian robes it was difficult to think of her as anything but the Lady of the House of Surak.

The conversation ceased upon his entrance and there was a silence that a non-Vulcan would have perhaps found awkward. Saavik spoke first. "Commander, it is good that you have returned home unharmed."

Tuvok inclined his head in acceptance. "You honor me, Admiral. It is good to find that those I had left behind are well." He glanced at his wife, but her face was so closed as to be unreadable, even to him. It was rare that he could not interpret her thoughts. Perhaps she had grown more controlled during his time away, or perhaps the long separation had merely made him less practiced at reading her.

Saavik glanced between them and rose easily from her chair. "I will take my leave." A human might have made remarks about leaving Tuvok and his wife alone, perhaps even teased them, but Saavik, of course, did not.

Tuvok looked at his wife. Slowly, he raised one eyebrow. T'Pel gazed back at him calmly, with subdued amusement and extended her two fingers. He ran his own fingers over hers and for a moment the situation was forgotten.

But only for a moment. He sat. "Clearly there have been...changes in my absence."

T'Pel nodded to the doorway through which Saavik had exited. "The Lady was...helpful in many ways. When Voyager went missing, you were believed dead. I knew that you were not, but I had no proof. The bond was so faint that the healers could not detect it. Many thought my persistence...emotional. Saavik did not. She has been a...friend."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. 'Friend' was not a word Vulcans used lightly, especially not among themselves. He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, considering the implications of such a friendship. On Vulcan such things mattered. "Changes indeed," he said finally.

"For you also," T'Pel said. "There is...much to discuss."

Tuvok nodded. The warmth of the room settled over him. The Sudan was not Vulcan, but the heat was comparable to a mild day on his home planet. He had expected that, after seven years, he would return to a home that was different, yes, but different in expected ways, a life that had continued on its course, going forward as it had been when he had left. He recognized now the illogic of such a belief. Indeed, he would have recognized it sooner had he ever given the matter much consideration. But he had not and now he had returned to have it reinforced that one was not only confronted with the unexpected on the opposite end of the galaxy, but in familiar surroundings as well.

Finding the unexpected at home, however, had the benefit of allowing one to rely on that which was in so many ways familiar. He looked at his wife again. She watched him, relaxed, not hurrying the conversation as humans were prone. Unexpected changes, perhaps, but there was no doubt that this was home.


End file.
